The second stage of the Giro d’Italia consisted of 205 km from Bologna along the Apennin range to Fucecchio. It was earmarked as a stage for the fast men, however the course was more hilly than many had expected. The first 50 km of the parcours ran uphill, followed by a third-category climb in Montalbano and a fourth-category climb in San Baronto in the second part of the course. The last kilometres offered some twists and turns before heading onto the straight finishing line.
Although considered a stage for the sprinters, rain at the start, cold temperatures and wind made this course anything but easy. After only a few kilometres a group of eight riders escaped but the peloton, led over long stretches by Cesare Benedetti, did not allow the elastic to stretch too far, and so the breakaway never gained an advantage of more than 4 minutes.
On the Montalbano climb, the breakaway disintegrated, and Bahrain-Merida took to the task of increasing the tempo. The advantage of the remaining 4-rider leading group was whittled down to less than a minute. With 18km to the finish, BORA – hansgrohe came to the front to bring the breakaway back and later position Pascal Ackermannn for the sprint, and ultimately, under the tempo of the squad from Raubling, the escapees were finally reeled in. The sprinter trains came to the front and with only a few kilometres remaining, Lotto – Soudal and BORA – hansgrohe took the lead at the head of affairs. C. Ewan was able to get ahead with 200 m remaining, but in the end, Pascal, the German champion, was able to launch his sprint from behind and in the last metres overtake Ewan and E. Viviani to take out his first Grand Tour victory. With this win, he also took the ciclamino points jersey. His teammate Rafal Majka retained his 6th place in the general classification after the stage.
Result
01 P. Ackermann 4:44:43
02 C. Ewan +0:00
03 E. Viviani +0:00
From the finish line
“I’m incredibly happy to have won here. Even though I meet my competitors like Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani at other races, it is special to have taken the win here at the Giro. Of course there is more pressure to win at a Grand Tour and that is why I am so happy. It was my first chance for a win and we accomplished our goal. It is also very special to me to have won wearing the German championship jersey.”
– Pascal Ackermann
“This is a good start to the Giro. Two years ago we took that memorable stage with Lukas Pöstlberger and then last year Sam Bennett won multiple stages, and now this year, we’ve notched up Pascal’s first Grand Tour victory. It is a well deserved win. The team rode in the front the whole time, controlled the breakaway well and did a great lead out. We are all super happy about this fantastic result.”
– Jens Zemke, Sports Director
